Youth Football: New Study Warns Of Health Risks Down The Road

A new study raises questions about whether children should be allowed to play tackle football. The study, by researchers at Boston University, found links between children playing football before they were 12 years old and long-term health problems.

The study, which was published Tuesday in Nature's Translational Psychiatry and also involved researchers from Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, looked at 214 former football players: 43 who played through high school, 103 who played through college and 68 who played in the NFL.

The players, who had an average age of 51 at the time they took part in the study, were found to have suffered from a variety of problems, including behavioral issues and depression.

Watch: New Study Links Youth Football To Cognitive Problems Later In Life

The study found that the risk of problems associated with executive functioning and apathy increased by twofold, while the risk of depression was threefold.

Researchers concluded it didn't matter how many total years they had played football or how many concussions they may have suffered. The common link was whether or not they had played before they were 12 years old.

"This study adds to growing research suggesting that incurring repeated head impacts through tackle football before the age of 12 can lead to a greater risk for short- and long-term neurological consequences,"said Michael Alosco, lead author of the study and a post-doctoral fellow at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Alsoco and his colleagues said that they picked age 12 because the brain undergoes a key period of development between the ages of 10 and 12.

"Even when a specific age cutoff was not used, younger age of first exposure to football was associated with worse clinical function," they said in a release.

"More research on this topic is needed before any recommendations on policy or rule changes can be made," said co-author Robert Stern, a professor of neurology, neurosurgery and anatomy and neurobiology at the school.

The results of the study are similar to another conducted by Stern and Boston University researchers that came out in 2015 that showed NFL retirees who had started playing tackle football before they were 12 had greater mental issues than those who had started later.

The NFL, which has found itself under increasing criticism for the health problems associated with the sport, has started a campaign to promote flag football for kids.

Photo via Boston University School of Medicine